Beyond Bats
Even the darkest corner of the architectural madness, like Gotham City, needs a spot of sunlight. Otherwise the streets snake through the city like a pulsing bloodstream infected with disease. The near future is riddled with crime that never seems to stagger.
Thankfully that small ray of hope comes in the nocturnal form of Batman.
But this is a different kind of Batman. He’s younger, more updated, with a bit of the amateur side. He’s still learning all the moves of Batman. He’s just a teenager named Terry McGinnis who has the normal problems of any boy his age: girls, school and a job.
His part-time job involves working for Bruce Wayne, the original Batman who took care of crime city generations ago. But he’s old now, nearing eighty, his features carved with many more hardships, a bitterness that seems to grow haggard. Yet there’s still a striking vitality in his eyes. Much of the character brilliantly voiced by Kevin Conroy, a long-time mainstay in the Batman mythos.
Welcome to the second season of Batman Beyond. It debuted on Oct. 24 as a DVD box set brought forth by Warner Brothers. Plenty of fanciful treats and extras in this well packaged set. There’s 26 episodes stashed away on 4 discs for those cartoon lovers wanting to indulge in the world of animation.
The number of shows comes with the Emmy award winning “Splicers” which is basically a drug-related episode. It does have an interesting variation on the drug theme—showing the bad side-effects of taking drugs. It could be debated on whether this particular installment deserves an Emmy or not. Though it’s not one of my favorites off the set. Still, it’s a good season opener for the series with more to offer.
McGinnis is still a punk who needs to get the hang of being a superhero, making mistakes as he goes along. And they’re huge mistakes that sometimes nearly costs his life. But he’s got pretty big shoes (or bat boots) to fill.
His continual relationship with his girlfriend often strains as there is, at one point, a time when he actually cheats on her. McGinnis goes through a tougher racket fighting his inner demons as he tackles folks like Shriek, Inque and Curare.
The nice thing about this second season, while not the best of the three, is the character development. Some of the supporting cast gets a nice spotlight, especially the aged Bruce Wayne. Who is, in my mind, still the BATMAN. He gets to kick around a few punks with his cane. He’s still a tough curmudgeon to wrestle at his ripe age.
Bruce Wayne gets out of his cave once in a while, traveling the sunken abyss that was his city. He plays the role of the mentor to the newfound guardian of Gotham City. And yes, he's still crabby.
There’s the introduction of 17-year-old girl Maxine seems to be unnecessary as the Batman already enlists Bruce Wayne as his connected source to technology, computers and detective hints. But it may be possible that her character, a very bright high school colleague, may grow within the next and final Batman Beyond season.
Some of the animation turned out to be pretty decent while others lapsed. The drawing of “Eggbaby” and “Zeta” wasn’t too particularly good, looking very rushed and hampered.
But there’s some definite solid animation in “Final Cut” with a returning silent assassin from the previous year. I thought “Eyewitness” and “Babel” were highlights in the series. “Babel” takes on several biblical references as sounds begin to grow into chaos and horror. It’s interesting to see, or hear in this case, how language barriers can disrupt society. Even in a modern-day technological world.
There’s enough atmosphere that falls like a dark blanket across the city of Gotham and a wariness grows in these old buildings of broken neighborhoods chewed away by passing years. It would take courage and youthful enthusiasm for Batman to face the fate of the future.
Thankfully that small ray of hope comes in the nocturnal form of Batman.
But this is a different kind of Batman. He’s younger, more updated, with a bit of the amateur side. He’s still learning all the moves of Batman. He’s just a teenager named Terry McGinnis who has the normal problems of any boy his age: girls, school and a job.
His part-time job involves working for Bruce Wayne, the original Batman who took care of crime city generations ago. But he’s old now, nearing eighty, his features carved with many more hardships, a bitterness that seems to grow haggard. Yet there’s still a striking vitality in his eyes. Much of the character brilliantly voiced by Kevin Conroy, a long-time mainstay in the Batman mythos.
Welcome to the second season of Batman Beyond. It debuted on Oct. 24 as a DVD box set brought forth by Warner Brothers. Plenty of fanciful treats and extras in this well packaged set. There’s 26 episodes stashed away on 4 discs for those cartoon lovers wanting to indulge in the world of animation.
The number of shows comes with the Emmy award winning “Splicers” which is basically a drug-related episode. It does have an interesting variation on the drug theme—showing the bad side-effects of taking drugs. It could be debated on whether this particular installment deserves an Emmy or not. Though it’s not one of my favorites off the set. Still, it’s a good season opener for the series with more to offer.
McGinnis is still a punk who needs to get the hang of being a superhero, making mistakes as he goes along. And they’re huge mistakes that sometimes nearly costs his life. But he’s got pretty big shoes (or bat boots) to fill.
His continual relationship with his girlfriend often strains as there is, at one point, a time when he actually cheats on her. McGinnis goes through a tougher racket fighting his inner demons as he tackles folks like Shriek, Inque and Curare.
The nice thing about this second season, while not the best of the three, is the character development. Some of the supporting cast gets a nice spotlight, especially the aged Bruce Wayne. Who is, in my mind, still the BATMAN. He gets to kick around a few punks with his cane. He’s still a tough curmudgeon to wrestle at his ripe age.
Bruce Wayne gets out of his cave once in a while, traveling the sunken abyss that was his city. He plays the role of the mentor to the newfound guardian of Gotham City. And yes, he's still crabby.
There’s the introduction of 17-year-old girl Maxine seems to be unnecessary as the Batman already enlists Bruce Wayne as his connected source to technology, computers and detective hints. But it may be possible that her character, a very bright high school colleague, may grow within the next and final Batman Beyond season.
Some of the animation turned out to be pretty decent while others lapsed. The drawing of “Eggbaby” and “Zeta” wasn’t too particularly good, looking very rushed and hampered.
But there’s some definite solid animation in “Final Cut” with a returning silent assassin from the previous year. I thought “Eyewitness” and “Babel” were highlights in the series. “Babel” takes on several biblical references as sounds begin to grow into chaos and horror. It’s interesting to see, or hear in this case, how language barriers can disrupt society. Even in a modern-day technological world.
There’s enough atmosphere that falls like a dark blanket across the city of Gotham and a wariness grows in these old buildings of broken neighborhoods chewed away by passing years. It would take courage and youthful enthusiasm for Batman to face the fate of the future.
posted by K.M. Paters at 11:13 AM
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